10,000 Meters Beneath the Sea

Three days passed amid someone's unceasing sweat.

That morning, it was not even seven yet. The sun had not had time to rise.

Mjosgard had already rushed into Gawain's residence with his guards and a crowd of Merfolk.

After barging all the way into Gawain's house, Mjosgard knocked on the bedroom door. Gion, who had remained on guard the entire time, rubbed the corner of her eyes, climbed out of bed, and opened the door for him.

"Saint Mjosgard, you're here so early?"

"Oh, Gion, you and Gawain...?"

"Saint Gawain is in the room farther inside. This is the adjoining room where I rest. Come with me."

As she explained, Gion led Mjosgard to sit on the sofa in the adjoining room.

"Saint Gawain probably didn't expect you to arrive so quickly. He is still resting, and I think it would be better to wait until he wakes up on his own.

I have tea here, as well as senbei. Please help yourself."

"Uh, why do we have to wait? I can't wait any longer!

Our ship's Coating was finished before dawn today. I've already waited over four hours, and Gawain still isn't awake..."

As Mjosgard spoke, Gion, sitting across from him, began to give off a dangerous aura. Seeing that, Mjosgard chose to take a senbei and chew it obediently.

In the past, he would not have feared Gion. A chief guard was still just a guard.

But over the past few days, Mjosgard had personally witnessed the way Gion trained Gawain.

How should he put it?

After seeing Gion pour him tea, Mjosgard hurriedly accepted it with both hands and drank it with exceptional courtesy.

Time passed especially slowly, at least in Mjosgard's mind. Fortunately, the lively Merfolk were there.

They had arrived early, so they simply kept taking out Gawain's clothes and choosing among them, determined to match him with something better.

At 8:20 in the morning, Gawain finally woke up on schedule.

He pressed the service bell by his bed, then, having no desire to get up at all, let the maids who crowded in fuss over him.

It was not that he had fallen into decadence. He truly could not lift his arms or legs.

The feeling of overtraining was genuinely unpleasant, but it was a necessary stage of cultivation in this world. Whether Gawain liked it or not, he had to go through it.

When it came to training, Gion was undoubtedly a professional. The Navy under the Five Elders had an absolutely unquestionable grasp of the fundamentals of cultivation.

This was the most official combat organization in the pirate world. It possessed a perfect training system that could turn ordinary people into the strongest in the world.

Tempering the body, practicing Rokushiki, using Soru against high-speed enemies, Shigan and Rankyaku for long-range attacks, Geppo for aerial combat, Tekkai as the path toward Armament Haki, Kami-e as the path toward Observation Haki, Seimei Kikan to maintain bodily condition, swordsmanship, fist techniques, leg techniques, Devil Fruit applications—the Navy had complete and unified methods of training for all of it.

With such conditions, if Gawain did not know how to cherish them, then he truly would not deserve to be the diligent sort who had entered a diplomatic post straight after graduation without even needing an internship.

So Gawain smiled as he endured the soreness. After the maids dressed him, he slowly walked into the adjoining room.

"The ship's been coated?"

As he asked, Gawain turned sideways and let the Fish-Men drape a trench coat over him.

Hearing Gawain's words, Mjosgard hurriedly stood and grabbed his hand.

"Of course it has! I urged them countless times!"

"Hisss...!"

Gawain sucked in a breath as Mjosgard dragged him out of the residence. They boarded a Bubble Car, a specialty of the Sabaody Archipelago, and soon arrived at the shipyard where the Coating had been done.

Without wasting words, Mjosgard hurried aboard. Amid the roar of the ship setting sail, the enlarged Celestial Dragon vessel, wrapped in a bubble, left Sabaody Island and headed toward the descending current.

When they arrived there, Mjosgard truly broke into a cold sweat. He nervously explained to Gawain.

"Because there is an opening in the seabed around here that leads to the New World, the currents nearby are also unusual. To dive down to the seafloor, we only need to ride the descending current in the shallow waters here... Aaaah!!!"

Along with Mjosgard's scream, the ship had already entered the range of the descending current. Following a modest whirlpool, the ship plunged headfirst into the deep sea.

Gawain focused intently on the scenery around him: the bubbles stirred up when they first entered the water, and the countless fish scattering in panic.

The scales of all kinds of fish reflected the sunlight in brilliant colors. With the jagged rays of light descending from the surface, Gawain nearly forgot his pain in that moment, greedily taking in everything around him.

Noticing how seriously Gawain was watching, Gion smiled faintly and spoke softly.

"My lord, if you wish to look a little longer, I can have the ship remain in the sunlit layer for a while."

"No need."

Gawain decisively shook his head.

"Being amazed for an instant is enough. Continue the descent."

"Yes, my lord."

Gion nodded appreciatively, then waved her right hand. Once the ship adjusted its angle, it continued deeper.

Coating truly deserved to be a specialty of the pirate world. The feeling of descending was completely different from being in a submarine.

Inside the giant bubble surrounding the ship, Gawain could not feel any unusual jolting. Rather than diving beneath the sea, it felt as though they were floating in the sky.

After descending one hundred meters, the seawater entered the twilight zone. Sunlight became scarcer and scarcer, while the sea beasts around the ship grew larger and larger.

When they reached a depth of around eight hundred meters, Gion softly said to Gawain.

"My lord, the next part of our journey may involve a little turbulence. You need a layer of Coating to avoid any secondary accidents!"

"Mm, so I need to be coated too, right?"

Gawain nodded and allowed the crew responsible for sailing the ship to fuss with him.

Very quickly, he was covered in a small bubble that wrapped around his entire body.

At the same time, Gion continued explaining.

"We need to enter the faster surface descending current. Besides that, there is also a more stable deep descending current beneath the sea.

The surface descending current can bring us to Ryugu Kingdom in just a few hours. But if we accidentally enter the deep current, it would take roughly two thousand years for that current to complete one cycle!

Under the sea, we can only rely on an Eternal Pose to determine our heading. If we are headed in the right direction, then soon, we should see...

My lord, look over there!"

Gion raised a hand and pointed into the distance. Gawain followed her finger and looked over.

In the boundless sea ahead, countless giant fish, shrimp, and sea beasts, together with the wreckage of many broken ships, were rapidly moving straight downward out of nowhere.

Those sea beasts and ships outlined the current's shape. It was an enormous Undersea Waterfall of immeasurable width and at least five thousand meters in height!

That was right. In an ocean that was all water, there was actually a special waterfall!

Such a waterfall was far more thrilling than Huangguoshu could ever be!

As he marveled at it, Gawain's ship had already approached the Undersea Waterfall. The Merfolk aboard also became increasingly excited as they drew nearer to their homeland.

Gion gently reached out and took hold of Gawain's arm.

"My lord, I will hold you steady. Please make sure to stand firm and display the bearing of one above others!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Gawain's ship suddenly rushed wildly downward. Gawain felt a jolt beneath his feet, then stood there steadily.

Seeing this, Gawain gave Gion a brilliant smile. Looking at that smile, Gion slightly turned her head and could not help pursing her lips.

As they descended at high speed, Gawain saw other ships. They were not the only coated vessel here.

At first, those ships had intended to approach Gawain.

But once their navigators clearly saw Gawain's flag, they kept far away.

Watching the ships rapidly approach and then rapidly scatter, Gion said disdainfully.

"Most of those ships belong to slave traders from Sabaody Island. They love operating around the Undersea Waterfall, picking up pirates who have suffered shipwrecks and Merfolk who leave Ryugu Kingdom by following the upward current in the opposite direction.

Under the sea, it is not convenient for us to deal with them. Besides, not every one of them will make it back to shore alive."

After she finished speaking, Gion let go of Gawain's hand.

Huh?

Gion froze for a moment. When had she grabbed my lord's hand?

She hurriedly released him. At the same time, the ship became stable again, and Gion continued introducing things to Gawain.

"After passing the Undersea Waterfall, you will see a massive beast rarely found on land: the Kraken.

That creature has quite a mild temperament. As long as it is not attacked, it generally just lies near the Undersea Waterfall, waiting for damaged ships or sea beasts injured or killed by the waterfall to fall into its mouth.

To it, those are gifts from nature.

Besides that, the Kraken has another benefit: it can be used to observe the nearby undersea volcanoes.

We will not bring the ship close to undersea volcanoes, but we do not know when they might erupt. Therefore, if the Kraken living near a volcano flees, it means that the undersea volcano is about to erupt.

It is a very excellent warning sea beast."

The twenty-ninth already. The end of the month is here.

Next month, we should make a push for the rankings and follow the trend.

Our Celestial Dragons is currently just over one hundredth on the new book rankings. If we reach the top fifty, I'll add one extra chapter. Top thirty, two extra chapters. Top ten, three extra chapters. Top five, four chapters. Top three, five chapters. First and second place will each get another extra chapter.

The top ten is obviously far, far too difficult. There are too many big shots. But don't feel pressured. At 12:01 a.m. on May 1st, we'll release a new chapter. Friends, please toss Little Half-Dead some monthly votes and such if you can.

How many chapters of saved drafts Little Half-Dead can squeeze out depends on whether you big shots come through, hehe.